Officer enters plea in crash

Friday

Jun 21, 2013 at 7:00 AM

A White Pigeon police officer who arrested in April following a crash entered a plea agreement Tuesday in Branch County District Court.

By Wanda YoderJournal Correspondent

A White Pigeon police officer who arrested in April following a crash entered a plea agreement Tuesday in Branch County District Court. Sgt. Bill Burgoyne pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of operating while impaired. As part of that agreement, charges of driving while intoxicated and transporting open intoxicants in a motor vehicle were dismissed.Burgoyne is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 26 in Branch County.Burgoyne and White Pigeon Police Chief Lynn (Dutch) Baker were involved in the crash, which occurred near Sherwood in Branch County. Both had blood alcohol content at 0.13, and an open container of alcohol was found in the vehicle. The legal limit is .08. Baker was not criminally charged in the case.In a special meeting June 5, White Pigeon Village Council voted to suspend each for five days without pay for “actions unbecoming an officer.” Burgoyne faces another seven-day suspension if he does not comply with court orders, according to Todd Yoquelet, chairman of the village personnel committee.The council is in the process of drawing up a contract with Baker, as chief of police. Currently, the village and Baker are operating on a handshake agreement. In a meeting of the council Wednesday, the contract matter was tabled until the July 17 meeting. Neither Baker nor Yoquelet were present at Wednesday’s meeting and, according to WhitePigeon Village President Dan Czajkowski, the committee was still conferring with the village attorney formulating details of a possible contract proposal.Baker has been with the White Pigeon Police Department since 1994 and has served as chief of police since 1995. He has been in law enforcement for 33 years.